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8/12/2019 Nathan Sawaya Artist Catalog
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nathansawaya
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nathan
sawaya
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Nathan Sawaya is a New Yorkbased
artist who creates aweinspiring art
from some of the most unlikely things.
His recent global museum exhibitions
feature largescale sculptures using
only toy building blocks. LEGO bricks
to be exact. As a full-time independent
artist, Sawaya accepts commission
requests and shows his art in galleries in
New York, Miami and Maui.
Hes available to design and build
custom creations for private collec-
tors, events, photo shoots and conven-
tions. In addition, he is occasionally
available for speaking requests and is
the author of two bestselling books.
These books include The Art of Nathan
Sawaya and The Art of the BrickThe
Pictorial. Sawaya was the first artist to ever take LEGOs into the art world. His
unique sculptures and touring exhibi-
tion, The Art of the Brick, continues to
inspire creativity as well as break atten-
dance records around the globe. Born
in Colville, Washington and raised in
Veneta, Oregon, Sawayas childhood
dreams were always fun. He drew car-
toons, wrote stories, perfected magic
tricks and also played with LEGOs.
bio
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the
artofthe
brick
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The Art of the Brick museum show tours
North America, Asia and Australia. This
exhibition is the first major museum exhi-
bition to focus exclusively on the use of
the popular toy, LEGO bricks, as an art
medium and artist Nathan Sawaya has
taken it to new heights.
The New Yorkbased artist has mul-
tiple unique exhibitions created solely
from standard LEGO bricks with several
new sculptures created specifically for
each exhibition. Each show has countless,
colorful LEGO pieces, which Sawaya has
transformed into whimsical and awe
inspiring creations.
Sawayas ability to transform this
common toy into something mean-
ingful, his devotion to spatial perfec-
tion and the way he conceptualizes
action, enables him to elevate what
almost every child has played with
into the status of contemporary art.
These works are very personal to me, since they reflect my growth as an artist
as I strove to discover my creative identity, said Sawaya. The museum exhibition isaccessible because it engages the child in all of us while simultaneously illuminating
sophisticated and complex concepts. Everyone can relate to the medium since it is a toy
that many children have at home. But my goal with this exhibition when it first debuted
in 2007, was to elevate this simple plaything to a place it has never been before.
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disintegration35" x 32" x 6"
Friends huddle together to keepfrom being buffed by the winds.
Spiritual partners want to know
where the winds come from.
Nathan Sawaya
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Art of the Brick
is pretty much
blowing our
minds...Cond Nast Traveler
green70" x 27" x 15"
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Amazing Lifelike
LEGO MasterpiecesGood Morning America
mask (left)detail (above)
29" x 71" x 24" 13
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skulls34" x 24" x 3"
A breathtaking exhibition... thoughtprovoking,
visceral, playful and inspired.TimeOut New York Kids
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Dont Miss!New York Post
peace by piece (right)detail (below)
30" x 30" x 4"
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despair32" x 28" x 17"
Some of my other ideas really come from
personal journeys, personal emotions,
and just trying to express something newout of LEGO!Nathan Sawaya
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untitled
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untitled7" x 21" x 6"
Nathan Sawayas Lego Creations Are AwesomeThe Huffington Post
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Anything But Childs PlayThe Wall Street Journal
yellow35" x 13" x 28"
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stairway (left)detail (right)
38" x 40" x 15"
Nathan
Sawaya
uses 1.5
million
Legos
to build
wonders!Daily News
25
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the courage within60" x 18" x 11"
Opening oneself up to the world is not
an easy thing to do.Nathan Sawaya
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untitled13" x 23" x 13"
He turns the tiny, plastic bricks into works of art!Fox 5 News
29
q & a
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What is your earliest experience discovering Lego and when did your interest in becoming a lego artist
start?
I had LEGO bricks growing up. When I was about ten years old, I asked my parents if I could get a pet dog, and
when they did not get one for me, I created a lifesize dog for myself out of LEGO bricks. It was an early turning
point in my art career. As an adult, I created artwork using more traditional media such as clay and wire. I had
also done a series of sculptures out of candy. A few years ago I thought about his toy from my childhood and
challenged myself to create a large scale sculpture using just LEGO bricks. It was well received got a strong
reaction from friends and family. I continued working with bricks as a medium, and it has led to my current
career as the brick artist.
How was your learning experience when you first started and how have you evolved from then and now?
One important part was learning how to glue bricks together. I had found that although the bricks snap together
just fine, I needed to glue them together in order for the sculptures to be shipped and arrive in one piece.
Museums get grumpy when they open up a crate and just fine a pile of loose LEGO bricks (some assembly
required). I had to figure out how to use glue without taking away too much from the look of the bricks. It took a
while to master gluing the sculptures together.
Besides the beauty and creativity surrounding Lego, what do you think is the essence of Lego?
Possibilities. There are many reasons why I use LEGO, but the foremost reason is that LEGO bricks let me create
anything I can imagine. I wanted to elevate this simple childhood toy to a place it has never been before: into
the fine art galleries and museums. I appreciate the cleanliness of the LEGO brick. The right angles. The distinct
lines. As so often in life, it is a matter of perspective. Up close, the shape of the brick is distinctive. But from a
distance, those right angles and distinct lines change to curves. That is what drew me to the brick.
q & a
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Your works are very detail orientated. What is the creation process like and what is the average time you
spend on a project?
Essentially there is a similar process for each sculpture. It starts with inspiration and an idea.
Inspiration comes from everywhere. Many of my works center on the phenomena of how everyday life, people
and raw emotion are intertwined. Often my art is a reenactment of my personal feelings. I am inspired by myown experiences, emotions and the journeys I am taking. I also try and express my emotions through my art.
Once I am inspired I draw out my idea. I am always carrying my sketch pad so that I can draw out my ideas as
they come to me. Before I start building, I try and plan out as much as possible. I want to envision in my mind
what the finished sculpture will look like before I put down that first brick. As I start building, I actually glue the
bricks together as I go. This involves painting a little bit of glue on each and every brick. If I make a mistake,
well, Im good with a hammer and chisel. Once the sculpture looks the way I had envisioned it, I know that Im
done. The timing of this process is different for every sculpture. A typical lifesize human figure can take up to
23 weeks to create.
What has been your most challenging project so far?
Every project has its own challenges. Any time I am doing a human form, I struggle with
making it look correct. It can be challenging to use these small rectangular bricks to form the
curves of a human body. It is a step by step process to make sure the sculpture looks right.
One of the most challenging sculptures was a human form sculpture titled Pushing Against. The figure
needed to stretch over 8 feet tall so that when sitting on the floor its hands were pressed against the ceiling.
One of my more ambitious projects was creating an entire billboard that hung in Hollywood, California. It
measured over fiftythree feet long and fifteen feet high. I used over 500,000 individual LEGO pieces to make
it. One of my biggest sculptures is a skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. It measures over 20 feet long and tookme an entire summer to build. It is currently on tour in Australia as part of my exhibition, The Art of the Brick.
What is the most important factor to you when working on a project?
Color. It is important to use the right color.
w i t h . . .
t h
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What do you try to communicate through your art?
I want to captivate people for as long as I can keep their attention. Certain works may have different mes-
sages. The message of my artwork depends on the particular piece. Each piece has a different story. For
instance my sculpture, The Courage Within, is about the transitions one can go through in life. Specifically, the
metamorphosis I went through in my transitions from attorney to artist. The fact that the sculpture is built out of a
construction toy and the store behind the sculpture is about re-building oneself is additive to the interpretation.
What else are you passionate about besides Lego art?
Cooking. I like to cook. If I wasnt an artist, I would probably be a chef.
Favorite spot in New York?
Clearly, my art studio.
What is the perfect working mode like when working on a project?
I go into a trancelike state when I am working. I dont know if it is perfect, or even healthy, but so far it works
for me for making art.
In your opinion, how will you define creativity?
It is all creativity. Everything is creativity. You can find it with almost very action.
What do you like most about what you do?
Watching people viewing my artwork for the first time. I enjoy seeing peoples reactions to artwork created from
something with which they are familiar. Everyone can relate to it since it is a toy that many children have at home.
n a t h a n
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MASS MoCA
Columbus Museum of Art
New York Public Library
Spot Gallery
Moss Gallery
Avant Gallery
Sullivan Goss Gallery
Nassau Country Museum of Art
DAmour Museum of Fine Arts
Art Museum of South Texas
Flinn Gallery
Kimball Art Museum
American Swedish Museum
Time Warner Center
Mesa Contemporary Arts Center
Central Park
New Orleans Public Library
The Art & Culture Center
Mulvane Art Museum
Lancaster Museum of Art
North Adams, MA
Columbus, OH
New York, NY
Paris, FR
New York, NY
Miami, FL
Santa Barbara, CA
Roslyn Harbor, NY
Springfield, MA
Corpus Christi, TX
Greenwich, CT
Park City, UT
Philadelphia, PA
New York, NY
Mesa, AZ
New York, NY
New Orleans, LA
Hollywood, FL
Topeka, KS
Lancaster, PA
f
ea
t
ur
e
d
e
xh
i
bi
t
io
n
s
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This book was designed by
Nicole Tui te and printed digi -
t ia l ly in Phi ladelphia on
coated McCoy Si lk 80# text
paper and coated McCoy Si lk
100# cover paper. The type-faces used include Memphis
LT Std and Helvet ica in vari -
ous type s ty les and s izes .
colo
phon
34
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